Week 85

Week 85

Chronological order top to bottom.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Jordan Osborn came by tonight to finish the classification of the remaining on-line cars.

Here are some pics to capture the moment.

 We finished classification and inputting these four cars in EB Proviso Yard.

We still need to finish input of the WB Proviso Yard cars.

 Jordan Osborn at the controls. Handling the switcher tonight.

And finally,

What's on your workbench tonight?

The "people" container is out. 

We set up the model F40PH "City of Harvard" Metra 132 to match the prototype.

See Week 83 Blog (go to the bottom) to see the final rendition.

Train Day!
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
this is also my Mom's 85th b-day

And the gang's all here.
Check this out.

Front row floor sitting: Dean Hatzis
Middle Row stool sitting: Carlos Baez
Back Row Standing l.to rt.: Josh Jones, Jordan Osborn, Curt Berg, Ed Nelson
The first time in several months everyone could make the same day!

Even Jan got into the act.
She came down to take the photo and handed Dean a tool.

Way to contribute Jan! We'll make you a train gal soon.

Now to get everyone caught up on the day's activities...

 Ed Nelson & Carlos Baez began the session preparing the benchwork for the Western Avenue underpass.

 Dean Hatzis joined the crew and now there were three.

I love this picture with Carlos "in the hole".
Note Josh and Jordan at the control getting their game plan together.

 I purchased a 2 Engine stall at B&G about a month ago.
Ed Nelson took it home and brought it back today!
Nice work, ED!

 We also put an "addition" on to the end of Union Station downtown Chicago.

 Here you can see Carlos Baez attaching the open grid.

 In the meantime, Jordan and Josh are preparing to run some trains.

 Carlos Baez being assisted by Ed Nelson attaching the plywood to the open grid.

Not to be outdone, Dean Hatzis joins the crew.
And then there were three.

Length: .42s
Well, Jordan and Josh finally got their act together and here's a train they put together.
You'll notice, this train didn't stop the men with their power tools.

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I had to leave early to attend Mom's 85th b-day celebration at Al's Cafe in Elgin.

When I came back I took some pictures of the finishing touches on the evening.

Check these out...

 The three amigos finished cutting the openings for the Western Avenue underpass.
Nice work men.

 Another shot of the underpass.

 One more view of the Engine Shop Ed Nelson built from a kit.
The kit was originally the blue color as the parts shown laying down.
Ed painted the roof and sides the green colors.

 I need to purchase more cork roadbed before I can extend the track and platform.

The opposite view of the extension.
We're getting closer to adding columns and then we can begin construction on the street level.

Week 84

Week 84

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Train Session tonight:

Carlos Baez and Ed Nelson couldn't make it tonight due to illness.

Here's what happened with those who could come.

We started off the session talking about the Inspection Report Card.

 Here is one Report Card for a UTLX Tank Car.

And another Report Card for a UP PFE Car.

 We kinda jumped all over the basement with different projects.

Here Dean Hatzis works on some measurements for the Western Avenue underpass.
He'll work on cutting out the pieces and installing next week.

We're trying to figure out how to best manage the integrity of the base structure and still be able to run a road under the tracks.

The view from the opposite direction.

Then we went to Union Station to work on the extension.

Dean took some measurements here and will cut the pieces to be installed next week.

Why not go back to Western Avenue since we're jumping around so much.

Jordan Osborn at his most cherished position.

At the controls.

Curt Berg and Jordan Osborn sport their new baseball caps purchased at the last DuPage Co. Train Show. Curt in CNW green and Jordan wearing the BNSF logo.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Jordan Osborn came over this afternoon and worked with me on classification of RR Cars in numeric order using each Car Number.

Here's what it looked like after we finished our session.

Half way through.
The first track with the old fashioned passenger cars is for 7 digit number cars.
The next track is for cars with 6 digits.
Then 5 digits and finally with 4 digits for the remaining yard track before the main.

Still need to classify the other part of the train on the north side of the mainline.
You can see that train is led by CNW 1518 GP9.

NEW FEATURE each WEEK

What's on your workbench this week?

Check this out.
You can hardly recognize the dryer right behind the workbench.

Working on two car inspections.
One is a 65' plug yellow box car and the other a 65' UTLX black tank car.
Also, getting ready to install inside lights on RTA Commuter Cars/Cab
(out of view under two cars ready for inspection).

I've since added the lit magnifying lamp.
You can also see the incline test track on top of wood frame.
Can you identify the trays for wheels, couplers, and engine parts?
Also in view is the scale to weigh cars, hand brake parts, drill bits, and misc. tools.

Week 83

Week 83

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

We're back!

However, Ed Nelson and Dean Hatzis couldn't make it tonight.

Ed was under the weather.

Dean was helping a friend finish an important project.

BUT!

Carlos finally is back on day shift and he made his first appearance in two months!

YEAH!

Here's what we did tonight...

 Carlos Baez checking out where he left off two months ago.

 Making assessment as to where we go from here.

 My MAIN MAN Engineer at the controls.

Jordan Osborn ran three trains tonight.

The first train was the Metra Commuter train.

We were checking the roof clearance at the Oak Park/Lombard Station.

 Then he ran the Amtrak train. No pictures.

Finally he ran the UP Westbound Intermodal train.

Carlos making inspection as the train rumbles by.

 Another shot of the men in action.

 We determined after running all three trains by the Oak Park/Lombard station that the roof line needs to be trimmed 1/8" off both sides.

 Carlos Baez removing the roof from the base.

Can you tell I cleaned the lens before I took this picture?

 Making the 1/8" measurements for ripping at home.

Jordan Osborn at the controls. 

Carlos working on the Oak Park/Lombard Station roof.

I liked the way this looked coming down the incline.

Next time I'll take a video to get all the action.

This weekend we took a train ride from Geneva to Elburn.
When the train approached Geneva Station, I noticed the engine was the prototype of the one at home.

Check this out:

And my model of the prototype.
Pretty cool if I don't say so myself :)

Week 82

Week 82

I'm on vacation this week -

so we're taking the week OFF.

However, in preparation for our trip to Arizona I took a virtual tour of the basement to show my brother-in-law, Jeff (Jan's twin) what the train layout looks like.

Here you go. This is what I'm going to show him:

I started in the kitchen and then worked my way down the stairs

TO THE TRAINS

Length: 1.57

On
Wednesday, February 17, 2016

we climbed Pichaso Peak.

While we were taking in the breathtaking view from the top two trains went by.

I took videos of each.

Length: .20

Length: .11

On
Thursday, February 18, 2016

Jeff & Michelle took me to the HobbyTown.

Jeff bought me two "Big Trees"
I bought a SW1500 UP switcher.

On our way home
Saturday, February 20, 2016

I took some shots of trains along I10

When I got home I had to "stage" my latest prized possessions:

SW1500 UP 1064
With the nice "Big Trees" as its background

Week 81

Week 81

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Here's what we did tonight.
Missing were Carlos and Dean
Attending were Curt, Ed, & Jordan

 Getting ready to work on Western Avenue.
Not tonight, but getting ready for the future.

 The view looking east via Global 1.

 Ed Nelson working on track layout for the Industrial Park.

 A bird's eye view.

 Another view.

 Jordan Osborn at the controls.

 Progress.

 Another view of progress.

Jordan working the administrative desk.